Week 12 - Our final weeks this school year - May 8 - June 2

Here is what happened in music our last week + a day together . . .

In Week 12, the Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade classes enjoyed their 2nd week of Music Olympics, with this week being focused on Melody.  Team Events included the 50 in 5 Challenge (with team scoring), Treble Clef Spell-It Relay, Treble Clef Read-It, a Treble Clef Memory game, Name That Tune and Team Play a Tune by Ear.  The Ribbon Events included the Treble Clef Spell-It Contest and the Play a Tune by Ear Contest.  On our final day of the week, the winning team received a team prize and the individual Ribbon winners were recognized in an in-class ribbon ceremony.  All in all it was a fun time with games and contests, but reviewing what we've learned about melody this year.

Kindergarten, First and Second Grade classes focused on learning Americana Play Parties and Folk Dances.  They experienced different formations including single and double circle and long-aways sets.  The play parties / dances for each class were selected from the following:

• Shoo Fly (3 versions)
• Skip to My Lou
• The Heel and Toe Polka
• Alabama Gal
• Sashay the Donut
• Old King Glory of the Mountain
• Down in the Valley
• Sweets of May
• Jump Jim Joe

The very last week of school (following Memorial Day) each class has music one day.  5th grade will have their final Talent Time and Choice Day.  KDG-4th grade classes will be introduced to the songs that will become a part of our Flag Ceremony the first day back together next school year.

Week 11 - April 17-May 5

At GRE the specials schedule is a 3 week rotation - so 3 weeks equals 1 instructional week for me with all of the students.  That's why this post is called - Week 11 (April 17 - May 5)

Here's what happened In our eleventh week together___

• Kindergartners - Second Grade focused on a review of Instrument Timbres this rotation.  We started with the singing game, Old King Glory of the Mountain, but with each person taking a small percussion instrument (claves, jingle bells, maracas, rigged woodblock/guiro, triangle or hand drum) as they were chosen to join the line of marchers.  Once everyone had an instrument, student conductors led the group by touching colored dots on the floor - one for each timbre family.  2nd graders extended their knowledge of timbre by sorting instruments into timbre families and having additional turns to conduct new music with the colored dots.  First and Second Graders took two days to explore each small percussion family using our Colored Dominoes activity.  The musical score is created with  colored dominoes and each small percussion group is represented by a color within the score.  Students play their instrument when their color comes along.  We varied between Tutti and Silence on black - which had no particular group of instruments associated with it.  Kindergarners reviewed the timbre families with our "Listen" game using two of each instrument family in the game

• Third Graders, Fourth Graders and Fifth Graders all got to participate in a Music Olympics.  This is a really fun way to review our music learning and skills in competitions and games.  We took one day to choose captains, teams and meet to sign-up for Ribbon Events.  Over the course of the two week Music Olympics, each student competes in at least one Ribbon Event of their choosing, along with all of the various team events.  This week Music Olympics focused on Rhythm.  The Ribbon Events included the Rhythm Reading Contest (solo performance) and the Rhythmic Dictation Contest.  Team events included Rhythm Roll, Rhythm Grab, Dice Scramble, and Team Rhythm Dictation.  

Week 10 - March 13 - April 14

At GRE the specials schedule is a 3 week rotation - so 3 weeks equals 1 instructional week for me with all of the students.  That's why this post is called - Week 10 (March 13 - April 14)

Here's what happened In our tenth week together___

• Kindergartners learned a new singing/movement game, Down in the Valley, which starts with one person and doubles each time - first traveling/stepping locomotor and then leading a stationary beat motion for a partner to follow in mirror.  In addition, each student got to sing alone and be the leader for the class in some 3 way echoes - Teacher, solo, tutti - using Sol Mi patterns.  And for fun we learned a couple of songs to sing with guitar accompaniment, The Vowel Song and Throw It Out the Window

• First Graders had "pop corn and a movie" as they got to watch the video of their evening sharing/Performance and do a self evaluation of the Sight, Sound and Sensation of their performance.  The rest of the week we focused on contrasts in music - Loud/Quiet, Long/Short, High/Low.  We did this through games and listening activities.  

• Second Graders had "pop corn and a movie" as they watched the video of their own evening sharing/Performance and did a self evaluation of their performance.  They had two days of song choices from a menu of over 30 Disney Songs.  In addition to student choices, we also had a "Little Piggy Opera" using the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" as the theme for the Drama.  We reviewed various note values with Movement Villages and introducing "chair" notation.

• Third Graders continued working on the piece, Toasted, adding the drum and xylophone parts to the recorder melody they had learned in the previous rotation.  We also experienced a "jam" or improvising a new melody on recorder for an added section of the piece.  After all students had learned all of the parts, students chose one 'special' part to add to the recorder melody - either the drum accompaniment, xylophone accompaniment or the improvised recorder "jam".  We set up a rotation so everyone could play their special part within the musical whole.  We made a video recording of the piece and you'll find it on the "In the Spotlight" page of this blog.

• Fourth Graders wrapped up all of their Colorado Connection pieces this week.  We reviewed and rehearsed them in an order to share with parents.  On Thursday we had our Colorado Connection Concert in the music room during the students' regular music time.  You'll find video of the performances on the "In the Spotlight" page of this blog.

• Fifth Graders chose either their ABA Melodic piece or their Rhythmic Canon to polish, publish and perform.  Students performed several roles in this process - composer, publisher and performer.  The publishing aspect proved to be the most difficult as we were all learning a new online publishing program together.

Week 9: February 20 - March 10

As you know, at GRE the specials schedule is a 3 week rotation - so 3 weeks equals 1 instructional week for me with all of the students.  That's why this post is called - Week 9 (February 20 - March 10)

Here's what happened In our ninth week together___

• Kindergartners continued their focused learning using pitch and pitch notation with a 2-line staff.  Students reviewed a previous Sol-Mi Version of Engine Engine from the Smart Board and then worked in 6 groups (one per phrase of the song) to create a new Sol-Mi melody using magnets and manipulatives on a 2 line staff drawn on a cookie sheet.  We put all of the new phrases into one new Class Version and sang it together.  Students also created a 4-note sol-mi pattern and sang it alone before the whole group sang it.  One day we created a very long Sol-Mi tune as each student added a pitch to the tune, or changed a pitch already on the score.  This allowed us to focus on reading and writing from left to right, even as the pitches move up and down.  As we built and changed the new tune, we worked on our sight-singing.  In addition to this focus on music literacy students were introduced to some songs to sing just for fun:  The Vowel Song (Apples and Bananas) and Throw it Out the Window - their homework was to come with a nursery rhyme in mind to try out as a new verse in that one.

• First and Second Graders worked toward their culminating performance of their songs, dances and music games for their Culture Connection sharing.  This rotation we worked to memorize and polish all of the pieces and added performance particulars like a group bow, traveling to and from the risers, and linking all of the pieces into a cohesive musical performance.  On the day of the performance the two classes (1st and 2nd grade) combined for a technical rehearsal to get used to the actual performance space and weaving their parts together.  It was the first time the two groups had sung their joint songs together.  That evening all students had the opportunity to share their music and movement learning, as well as art work with their parents and invited guests.  In our next rotation students will get a chance to watch their performance from an audience perspective and reflect on it.  Our fifth day, following the program students got to choose some favorite singing/movement games to play.

• Third Grades began the week by reviewing Basic Recorder technique and the notes they had previously learned - B A and G, with their latest song See a Pin.  We reviewed this piece with body percussion and speech (pat, clap and snap for G A B respectively).  Then the body percussion was shifted down to include a step which translated to a new note - E.  We played the piece starting on G (Do), starting on E (La, giving it a minor sound) and combining them into one.   You'll find a recording of students playing this piece on the In the Spotlight page.  Using our new note E, students also learned all of the recorder parts to a new piece called Toasted.  This piece has a section that students can 'jam' or improvise.  Students have begun working on some riffs in a jazzy style using the 4 notes they know on recorder.  We have started having two-four solo volunteers to create the B section.  Both of these pieces have been sent home in printed music so students can continue to practice them.  Students can log their practice time on the page called Practice Logs.  Toasted is a piece we will continue to work with as we next learn the drum and xylophone parts.  In the next rotation we'll get it all put together and make a recording to share with you.

• Fourth Graders learned the last of the new pieces - Colorado! and  Gold Rush for their upcoming Colorado Connection Concert.  This live (and recorded) parent sharing will be happening on Thursday in the next rotation during our music time.   Some students have volunteered to take on the rap style speech parts of Gold Rush.  In addition to working on these two pieces, we wrapped up the small group recorder pieces The Train's Off the Track, When the Train Comes Along and Little Train.  Each group was video recorded so that we can weave them together into one compilation that will be held together by a voice over poem.  Students who volunteered to do the voice over will be recorded soon so that can be put together.  Once done it will be posted for you to see.  In this rotation we also added the square dance portion of Symbol Song and reviewed it.  We reviewed our Cheyenne Hand Game and Cripple Creek, too.  Classes that had a 5th day in this rotation and had all of that done, got to enjoy Talent Time and choose from favorite singing/movement games.

• Fifth Graders came back to a piece we had started in Week 8 called The C Scale Rondo.  This is a piece for tone bars (Orff ensemble) using the full major scale in which everyone plays the A section  and small groups of students playing like instruments play a contrasting section as part of a large Rondo form.  In Week 8 students had begun creating their soli sections.  Students revisited that and worked to get it performance ready.  An bass xylophone ostinato was added to the A section.  The class decided on the order of the groups for the Rondo, structuring the performance.  We took a day to practice it as a musical whole and making a recording to share out which is posted on the In the Spotlight page.  On day 3 and 4 of this rotation students worked as composers to create a melody of their own.  This is our final composition project.  Students were introduced to a way of short hand (quick) notation to combine the letter names of the pitches and stick notation to indicate the rhythm.  In the next rotation students will choose between their Rhythmic Canon or their Melodic Piece to publish and perform.  Classes that had a 5th day in this rotation and had all of that done, got to enjoy Talent Time and choose from favorite singing/movement games.

Week 8: January 30 - February 17

The GRE specials schedule is a 3 week rotation - so 3 weeks equals 1 instructional week for me with all of the students.  That's why this post is called - Week 8 (January 30 - February 17)

Here's what happened In our eighth week together___

• Kindergartners continued their focused learning using Engine Engine.  We rediscovered the poem by hearing just the rhythm and identifying the match to the words.  We tried out a partner beat / rhythm echo game with one partner keeping the beat tapping on their partner's palm while the other partner echo said/tapped a 4 beat rhythm pattern on their partner's palm.  We started experimenting with creating melodies to the text of the poem Engine Engine using Sol and Mi (up / down).  Over the course of the week students did a lot of singing and movement activities centered on Sol - Mi.  Student leaders used body conducting (sol=shoulders and mi=waist) to invent tunes for the poem instantly.  At the SmartBoard we created and notated a predictable Sol-Mi tune and notated it in the spaces of a three line staff.  Once we had agreed to a melodic pattern that everyone could easily remember and sing without looking, we added a beat bordun on the xylophones as accompaniment.  Everyone had a turn at accompanying the song (in groups of 4 since we have 4 Bass Xylophones).  This week we also played a S-M-La singing game, Doggie Doggie Where's Your Bone and Melody Statues.

• First Graders and Second Graders continued learning and working on the songs, dances and music games for their upcoming specials sharing - "Culture Connection".  Both groups worked on It's a Small World and Hello to All the Children of the World - opening and closing songs.  Each grade level also worked on pieces of a particular country/culture.  Second grade - Japan including the singing game, Kagome and Ame Ame Fure Fure - all students learning both the dance with umbrellas and Orff instrument parts - rotating so that everyone had a turn on every part before being asked to choose what they would most like to do in the performance of that piece.  First Grade - Mexico including Que Llueva  and Danze de Los Viejitos.  We added the canes to the dance and practiced not only the steps but the drama/character of dancing as an 'old' person.

• Third Graders continued to focus on basic recorder technique  - with BAG pieces.  They reviewed they had learned in Week 7, and worked some on Hot Cross Buns and Gonna Make Music which had been sent home in the packet.  In Gonna Make Music students took the opportunity to improvise new melodies on B, A and G after singing the verse.  We took one day to focus on the names of the lines and spaces of the treble clef using an ipad app called Staff Wars.  Students learned the BAG portion of a piece, See a Pin, through body percussion levels representing the pitches.  The 5th day students shared in a Talent Time sharing and choices of music/movement games.

• Fourth Graders continued working on pieces for their Colorado Connection Concert reviewing pieces previously taught including the square dance and spent time working more on their small group recorder pieces.  We took one day to review the names and spaces of the treble clef using an ipad app, Staff Wars.  Students had their 2nd opportunity to take the 50 in 5 Challenge - trying to name 50 notes on the treble clef ranging from the B below the staff to the B above the staff.  Most students bettered their personal records and many more names were added to the Hall of Fame posted in the music room.  Following the 50 in 5 challenge some students retook the Note/Rest Name test while those that had already passed with 20 out of 20 had the opportunity to learn a new rhythm reading game called Kaboom!  The 5th day students shared in a Talent Time sharing and choices of music/movement games.

• Fifth Graders focused on Melody this week.  They learned a piece that I wrote called The C Scale Rondo.   Everyone learned the A section of the Rondo form from solfeggio and ear.  Students worked to collaboratively in small groups with like instruments to create a contrasting 4 measure section for the piece based on 8 different melodic fragments.  Fifth graders also took one day to review the names and spaces of the treble clef using an ipad app, Staff Wars.  Students had their 2nd opportunity to take the 50 in 5 Challenge - trying to name 50 notes on the treble clef ranging from the B below the staff to the B above the staff.  Most students bettered their personal records and many more names were added to the Hall of Fame posted in the music room.  The 5th day students shared in a Talent Time sharing and choices of music/movement games.

Week 7: January 9 - January 27

Since the GRE specials schedule is a 3 week rotation - 3 weeks equals 1 instructional week in music for all students.  That's why this post is called - Week 7 (January 9 - 27)

So, here's what happened in our seventh week together___

• Kindergartners were introduced to the traditional poem Engine, Engine Number Nine.  We began by matching a beat played on a cabasa and moving as a train.  As we moved, I spoke the poem a few times as we moved into a circle.  Students were asked what they noticed about the poem.  They identified rhyming words and that the last line gets two turns.  We said the poem together while keeping a steady beat.  Using a train whistle (instrument) as a model, students read/sang train whistle messages.  Each one starting out as one long note drawn on a white board.  Each of the four long notes were then to a different rhythm by erasing parts of the line.  Rhythm is created by an interruption in sound - creating different durations.  Using those four patterns we played a listening challenge of Which One Do You Hear? In later days throughout the week we did more with train whistle messages and the poem.  We figured out how many beats long 'the poem lives' and clapped the rhythm of "yes, no, maybe so".  We played a game with students taking turns as the Engine or lead of their train stepping to the beat and traveling from one train station (inverted plastic bucket) to another in time to arrive at the next station to play the rhythm of "yes, no, maybe so" 2 times with pvc pipe sticks on the bucket.  After their turn the Engine went to the caboose place until everyone had had a turn at being the leader.  Using a Smart Board document we took the 24 beats we had discovered the day before and figured out the rhythm of the poem.  This was written with a single large train icon for one sound on a beat and two smaller train icons sharing a beat everywhere there were two sounds on a beat.  Along the way we discovered two patterns that made up the whole poem.

• After a brief program overview introducing them to the idea of sharing in a night time performance for their families, First Graders were asked to guess the theme of the program (basically which 21st Century Skill would be at the center of it) based on two song they began working on:  It's a Small World and Hello to All the Children of the World.  Answer:  Global Awareness with a Culture Connection sharing.  In the song Hello to All the Children of the World, the chorus has 8 countries/languages are referenced in their greeting or hello.  Students were asked to share if they would particularly gravitate to one of those places to focus on for their featured part of the performance.  I had a few possibilities ready to go.  The choice for First Grade turned out to be Mexico, so the next day we started on some songs, games and a dance from Mexico:  Que Llueva (which reminded the kids of Apple Tree they had learned earlier in the year) and Danze de Los Viejitos.  Over the course of the week we worked quite a bit to get a good start on these 4 pieces.  Several students who speak languages other than English at home mentioned that they would like their "hello" to be included in our opening song, so we started collecting additional greetings to create a 2nd chorus for our opening song.

• Second Graders began working on pieces for their upcoming program.  First we did a circle talk to about being a part of a performance in general - based on their experiences last year what they are most looking forward to this year and sharing expectations.  To 'discover' the theme for the program Second Graders were asked to guess the theme of the program (basically which 21st Century Skill would be at the center of it, like Health and Wellness was last year) - based on two songs they began working on:  It's a Small World and Hello to All the Children of the World.  Answer:  Global Awareness with a Culture Connection sharing.  In the song Hello to All the Children of the World, the chorus has 8 countries/languages are referenced in their greeting or hello.  Students were asked to share if they would particularly gravitate to one of those places to focus on for their featured part of the performance.  I had a few possibilities ready to go.  The choice for Second Grade turned out to be Japan, so the next day we started on some songs, games and a dance from Japan:  Kagome and Ame Ame Fure Fure.  Over the course of the week we worked quite a bit to get a good start on these 4 pieces.  Second graders also helped to collect other languages to say 'hello' 

• Third Graders reviewed the basic recorder technique they started learning in their last rotation, including the notes B and A, how to hold and blow the recorder for the best sound.  They learned a new note / fingering for their 3rd note - G.  As I had told students they needed to know 3 songs with 3 notes in order for me to send their personal recorders home with them, they were excited for that.  They learned these songs in ways that included reading/decoding traditional notation, by ear and quick notation (letter names and rhythm sticks above).  Merrily We Row Along (which sounds a lot like Mary Had a Little Lamb), It's in the Bag, Old Tom White, and Au Claire de la Lune - A section.  At the end of the week the recorders parents had purchased were sent home along with these BAG pieces in a packet with a fingering chart, some activities and additional BAG pieces, including Hot Cross Buns and Gonna Make Music.  Students were also shown how to log their practice time.  Students are encouraged to practice 10-20 minutes at a time a few times a week. 

• Fourth Graders got back to working on pieces for their Colorado Connection Concert.  In addition to reviewing the Soprano Recorder piece Stegasaurus Stomp, students chose between 1 of 3 pieces to learn on recorder - all with a Railroad theme (Colorado Connection).  Each piece had different challenges but each had only the notes E, G, A and B.  As a whole group students were also introduced to another Railroad themed recorder piece, Ride the Iron Horse.  With this piece students were introduced to two new notes for the recorder - low D and high D.  In addition to this work on recorder, 4th graders were introduced to square dancing (the Colorado State folk dance).  They learned the positions in the square - Heads, Sides, Partner and Corner - and the calls/moves Honor, Swing (left and right), Do Si Do, Promenade, and Circle (left and right).  We started to put all of these together into a Square Dance called Comin' 'Round the Mountain - also a railroad connection.

• Fifth Graders focused on Rhythm - including Rhythmic Canons in this rotation.  We warmed up most days with some 'instant' canons.  (A Canon is like a round - with imitation, but all parts end at the same time)  We did some rhythmic dictation including patterns with 4 sixteenth notes (tikitiki) and sycopation - tee tah tee- eighth, quarter, eighth.  Students learned  Simple Canon in 2 - first discovering the pattern by ear from 4 beat rhythm cards.  Once we could play it in unison on hand drums, we experimented to find the appropriate interruption place - where there is the least overlap between the voice parts.  With this piece as a model, students worked to compose their own Rhythmic Canons.  Many students chose to use 2 beat building bricks to construct their piece, but some students went with other meter groupings.  We played a challenge called Stand Up if You are the Composer, too, to see if students would recognize what they wrote.

Week 6: December 5 - January 6

As you know, at GRE the specials schedule is a 3 week rotation - so 3 weeks equals 1 instructional week for me with all of the students.  That's why this post is called - Week 6 (December 5 - January 6)

Here's what happened In our sixth week together___

• Kindergartners continued learning about the small percussion (unpitched percussion) instruments we have in the music room.  In this rotation they were introduced to the  Ring instruments (triangle, finger cymbals, Indonesian gong, Chinese Bell Tree, wind chimes, tam-tam, cow bell, gankogui - 2 tone-bell from Ghana, crash cymbals, and suspended cymbal) and the Membranic instruments (hand drums, tubanos, bongos, buffalo drum, djembe, and donno - "talking drum" from Ghana).  With the Ring family students were introduced to the proper playing technique and the instrument name.  Each student partnered with another student - one played the instrument while the other moved in place to show how long the sound was.  Then they traded roles with their partner.  The pairs traveled around a large circle of instruments so that every person got to play each one.  In introducing the drums, we took one day to explore and discover ways to make sound on the hand drums.  Each student shared one idea they had found.  The second day students were introduced to additional drums.  With both timbre families we played our "Listen" game - which requires students to determine which instrument they are hearing without being able to see it and then name it.  Only the Gold schedule (Mrs. Brown's class) had a 5th day.  That class used instruments to augment two winter songs:  Jingle Bells and Santa's Helpers.

• First and Second Graders focused first on responding to music in a listening lesson.  Using the ipad app - Drawing Pad - students drew their response to a piece from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite they had selected as a class.  Students heard the piece 3-4 times in order to add detail to their response.  Some chose to create a listening map detailing the form and expressive qualities of the piece; others chose to draw a picture showing their emotional reaction to the piece.  Also this week, students discussed the language of this WCO:  "Explore music's role and its impact on the human experience."  Students spoke in turn in a circle talk about ways that music is important in their lives.  One idea that many students shared is how music can change their mood.  This was followed up with students choosing songs to sing from a menu of choices and saying why they had chosen a particular song.  We took a 2nd day later in the week for more of these song choices.  One day was spent reviewing the percussion timbre families and small percussion instruments as we did an activity with colored dominoes, reading the 'score' and playing one beat of sound (or silence) per colored panel.  Students were able to play two different instruments in each of 6 unpitched percussion families - click, jingle, rattle, scrape and membranic.

• Third Graders had an exciting and strong start at learning to play the soprano recorder this week.  Students played through several pieces - some from rote learning and some from notation:  B Ready, B Funky (students played solos - reading 4 beat rhythms), B One, B Hold, B Brave, Heavy B, Auto Pilot, The A List, A is for Acoustic, Atmosphere, and the Sheep May Safely Graze Tango.  Important things they learned were
• correct air speed for blowing the recorder in order to get the best sound
• how to hold the recorder and plug the holes (home base position)
• how to start and stop the sound and interrupt the sound for rhythms - tonguing
• fingering and notation for two different pitches - B and A
• reading music on a staff - decoding rhythm, pitch and putting that together with recorder fingering

• Fourth Graders learned about the traditional note and rest names in this rotation.  Although some students knew some of the 10 symbols by their 'real' names and could also tell how long they last (their value).  No student scored 20 out of 20 on the pre-test.  So, good news:  everyone had something new to learn!  Students learned why notes and rests have their traditional, "mathematical" names based on an object lesson:  Mrs. Petty's famous BROWNIE Lesson.  In addition, we played some games and did some activities to help cement all of this new information into our thinking before re-testing at the end of the week.  Those that scored 20 out of 20 this time around have shown that they have grasped the information.  Those that did not received their test papers back to study the few they still need to learn.  We'll keep working on it.  

• Fifth Graders dealt with the World Class Outcome:  "Defend music's role and its impact on the human experience".  Since this is a tricky one for kids (and adults) to make sense of, we worked through the language first.  Our discussion revolved around music's importance in our lives - particularly events or occasions in which music enhances or changes the experience.  Students had the assignment of sharing about a song that is special to them in some way and what their connection to the song is.  In addition, students had the opportunity to choose songs from a menu of Winter song choices.  Those that chose songs for all to sing also shared why they had chosen a particular song.